by Neil Richard
Because of the severity and complexity of the issues surrounding the King George County Service Authority (KGCSA) in recent months, we are "jumping the timeline" by giving you an inside look at the operations at five local Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs). These five WWTPs are Dahlgren District, Fairview Beach, Hopyard Farms, Oakland Park, and Purkins Corner. These WWTPs are operated and maintained by KGCSA and are under the enforcement authority of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Continuing our modern history coverage of the King George County Service Authority, you can also read about the First Quarter of 2017, Second Quarter of 2017, and Third Quarter of 2017.
CAUTION - Some of the links below may show images of human waste.
During the same meeting, Chris Werle, Chairman, gave an update on the pending application for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to help stabilize the shoreline in Fairview Beach. According to his Facebook post, a little over a week later on October 14th, Werle also met with Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in an effort to see how they could contribute to the stabilization project.
Two days later, on October 16th, representatives from DEQ agreed to meet with the Service Authority. The email referenced the Service Authority's invitation from June of 2017. Once again, DEQ showed it's willingness to work with the Service Authority by offering to drive to King George to meet versus making Service Authority representatives drive to Woodbridge, Virginia. Werle would update the Board of Directors on this same meeting as seen in the meeting minutes for October 17th.
On October 21st, Werle once again took to Facebook to "clarify a few things" that were reported in a Free Lance-Star article.
On October 24th, the Service Authority reported a sewage spill to DEQ. The spill, which occurred at the Purkins Corner WWTP, was caused by a "Sewer Force Main overflow/burst..." A maintenance crew was there to make repairs, suck up the raw sewage, and lime the area. It is unknown how much sewage spilled but was estimated to be less than 2,000 gallons. This would be the fifth spill of the year.
Closing out October is a string of emails between and within DEQ and the Service Authority trying to set a meeting date. Earlier in the month on October 16th, DEQ suggested two dates which Thomas rejected, thus pushing the potential meeting to November. At the same time, there were DEQ staff retiring or moving to other positions that would mean a loss of experience in dealing with the five WWTPs in King George. DEQ was anxious to meet with the Service Authority before these staffers left but was not able to make it happen. DEQ was finally able to pinpoint a date of November 13th for a meeting.
On November 6th and 7th, DEQ and Daniel Powell, a Service Authority employee, traded emails related to the lack of reporting of certain information via DEQ's e-DMR (electronic Discharge Monitoring Report). In summary, DEQ was looking for an explanation of the non-compliance at Fairview Beach WWTP related to Fecal Coliform, Ammonia, and Enterococci. Chris Thomas responded that the ammonia amounts were caused by "...insufficient air/dissolved oxygen delivery to the SBR [sequencing batch reactor] reactor tanks." and that settings were adjusted to correct it. Regarding the Fecal Coliform and Enterococci issues, Thomas said they were caused by the UV System. He said they had been trying to replace the ballast boxes and were working with the company they purchased them from, Suez, but had been unable to get a satisfactory response from them. Thomas attached an email chain between the Service Authority and Suez to show that attempts had been made.
On November 9th, DEQ issued two Notices of Violation (NOV). The first was for the Oakland Park WWTP. It noted that the DMRs showed reduced values of Dissolved Oxygen:
The minimum limit was 6.8 mg/L.
The second NOV was for Fairview Beach WWTP and noted the above issues with Ammonia, Fecal Coliform, and Enterococci. The September 2017 DMR had a value of 5.6 mg/L for Ammonia with a limit of 4.7 mg/l. The Fecal Coliform value was 19 n/100mls with a limit of 14 n/100mls. The Enterococci value was reported at 51 n/100mls with a limit of 35 n/100mls.
At the Board of Directors meeting on November 14th, there was a lengthy public comment by Elizabeth Strenk regarding the water quality issues in Fairview Beach. It can be read in full in the meeting minutes. Additionally, Rich Hale and Cynthia Lawson of Fairview Beach and Charlie Monroe of Canterbury complained about water issues. During the same meeting, Chris Werle and Chris Thomas gave a lengthy update and response on the water concerns in Fairview Beach raised during public comment.
On November 20th, Chris Werle posted a Facebook update on the liner repair at Dahlgren.
November ended with a joint meeting between DEQ and the Service Authority on the 29th at the Smoot Library. In the email dated November 21st, DEQ told Thomas and Werle that DEQ was looking "...forward to a productive meeting and open exchange of information." In my opinion, DEQ's cooperation was promising.
December opened with another Facebook update from Werle clarifying information reported in a Free Lance-Star article. In his lengthy December 10th post, Werle gave numerous rebuttals to points from the article about the conflicts at the Rosedale Drive property in Dahlgren.
Five days later, DEQ issued an NOV for the Purkins Corner WWTP. In the NOV, DEQ cites the June 2017 DMR report that was due on July 10, 2017 but wasn't received until August 9th. The NOV also cited the August 2017 DMR that reported Dissolved Oxygen values at 3.2 mg/L when the minimum is 5.0 mg/L.
On December 18th, DEQ sent an internal email that referenced all five WWTPs and how they were out of compliance as of the end of November. As the email states, the highlighted amounts are the ones out of compliance.
The December 19th meeting of the Board of Directors saw an update by Eric Gregory about the finances of the Service Authority.
Just before Christmas, on December 23rd, Chris Werle gave a more positive update on Facebook where he recognized the service of former Service Authority Chris Cox. Cox, a native of King George, had worked for the Service Authority for nearly ten years before retiring due to a disability. Cox was the winner of the inaugural Making A Difference Award for the Service Authority because of his contributions to the community.
In another internal DEQ email on December 28th, the majority of the content was related to ensuring the Hopyard WWTP had a qualified operator on duty when the plant discharged. However, at the end of the email, a comment was made that "Sounds to me like NRO [Northern Regional Office] is preparing to put the screws to King George again, just when we’ve got things to a somewhat cooperative level." This appears to confirm my theory that DEQ has largely been more than willing to bend over backwards to bring the Service Authority into compliance.
Another DEQ employee responds back with "It does not help their case that they’ve had consistent compliance concerns dating back to the 90s." The same employee continued by saying that DEQ was "...concerned with addressing the culture (of non-compliance) as well as the most current compliance issues and I understand their position." This gives the impression that even though DEQ is more than willing to help the Service Authority come into compliance, there may be some enforcement actions required to ensure it happens.
Because of the severity and complexity of the issues surrounding the King George County Service Authority (KGCSA) in recent months, we are "jumping the timeline" by giving you an inside look at the operations at five local Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs). These five WWTPs are Dahlgren District, Fairview Beach, Hopyard Farms, Oakland Park, and Purkins Corner. These WWTPs are operated and maintained by KGCSA and are under the enforcement authority of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Continuing our modern history coverage of the King George County Service Authority, you can also read about the First Quarter of 2017, Second Quarter of 2017, and Third Quarter of 2017.
CAUTION - Some of the links below may show images of human waste.
October 2017
October of 2017 was a relatively quiet month for the Service Authority. It began with the first Board of Directors meeting of the month on October 3, 2017. Chris Thomas, General Manager, gave a report that updated the Board on the liner repairs at the Dahlgren WWTP. According to the meeting minutes, Thomas said the previously estimated cost of $80,000 was lower than the actual cost Draper Aden, the contractor doing the work, had estimated of $125,000. Thomas said with some negotiation with Draper Aden, the final cost should not exceed $94,000.During the same meeting, Chris Werle, Chairman, gave an update on the pending application for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to help stabilize the shoreline in Fairview Beach. According to his Facebook post, a little over a week later on October 14th, Werle also met with Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in an effort to see how they could contribute to the stabilization project.
Two days later, on October 16th, representatives from DEQ agreed to meet with the Service Authority. The email referenced the Service Authority's invitation from June of 2017. Once again, DEQ showed it's willingness to work with the Service Authority by offering to drive to King George to meet versus making Service Authority representatives drive to Woodbridge, Virginia. Werle would update the Board of Directors on this same meeting as seen in the meeting minutes for October 17th.
On October 21st, Werle once again took to Facebook to "clarify a few things" that were reported in a Free Lance-Star article.
On October 24th, the Service Authority reported a sewage spill to DEQ. The spill, which occurred at the Purkins Corner WWTP, was caused by a "Sewer Force Main overflow/burst..." A maintenance crew was there to make repairs, suck up the raw sewage, and lime the area. It is unknown how much sewage spilled but was estimated to be less than 2,000 gallons. This would be the fifth spill of the year.
Closing out October is a string of emails between and within DEQ and the Service Authority trying to set a meeting date. Earlier in the month on October 16th, DEQ suggested two dates which Thomas rejected, thus pushing the potential meeting to November. At the same time, there were DEQ staff retiring or moving to other positions that would mean a loss of experience in dealing with the five WWTPs in King George. DEQ was anxious to meet with the Service Authority before these staffers left but was not able to make it happen. DEQ was finally able to pinpoint a date of November 13th for a meeting.
November 2017
November begins with more bad news for the potential meeting between DEQ and the Service Authority. According to an internal email from November 1st, DEQ's choice of November 13th didn't work for Chris Thomas, so DEQ pushed it back to later in November.On November 6th and 7th, DEQ and Daniel Powell, a Service Authority employee, traded emails related to the lack of reporting of certain information via DEQ's e-DMR (electronic Discharge Monitoring Report). In summary, DEQ was looking for an explanation of the non-compliance at Fairview Beach WWTP related to Fecal Coliform, Ammonia, and Enterococci. Chris Thomas responded that the ammonia amounts were caused by "...insufficient air/dissolved oxygen delivery to the SBR [sequencing batch reactor] reactor tanks." and that settings were adjusted to correct it. Regarding the Fecal Coliform and Enterococci issues, Thomas said they were caused by the UV System. He said they had been trying to replace the ballast boxes and were working with the company they purchased them from, Suez, but had been unable to get a satisfactory response from them. Thomas attached an email chain between the Service Authority and Suez to show that attempts had been made.
On November 9th, DEQ issued two Notices of Violation (NOV). The first was for the Oakland Park WWTP. It noted that the DMRs showed reduced values of Dissolved Oxygen:
- June 2017 - 2.9 mg/L
- July 2017 - 4.5 mg/L
- August 2017 - 5.7 mg/L
- September 2017 - 5.2 mg/L
The minimum limit was 6.8 mg/L.
The second NOV was for Fairview Beach WWTP and noted the above issues with Ammonia, Fecal Coliform, and Enterococci. The September 2017 DMR had a value of 5.6 mg/L for Ammonia with a limit of 4.7 mg/l. The Fecal Coliform value was 19 n/100mls with a limit of 14 n/100mls. The Enterococci value was reported at 51 n/100mls with a limit of 35 n/100mls.
At the Board of Directors meeting on November 14th, there was a lengthy public comment by Elizabeth Strenk regarding the water quality issues in Fairview Beach. It can be read in full in the meeting minutes. Additionally, Rich Hale and Cynthia Lawson of Fairview Beach and Charlie Monroe of Canterbury complained about water issues. During the same meeting, Chris Werle and Chris Thomas gave a lengthy update and response on the water concerns in Fairview Beach raised during public comment.
On November 20th, Chris Werle posted a Facebook update on the liner repair at Dahlgren.
November ended with a joint meeting between DEQ and the Service Authority on the 29th at the Smoot Library. In the email dated November 21st, DEQ told Thomas and Werle that DEQ was looking "...forward to a productive meeting and open exchange of information." In my opinion, DEQ's cooperation was promising.
December 2017
The December 5th meeting of the Board of Directors was fairly uneventful with only a short update on the liner repair in Dahlgren.December opened with another Facebook update from Werle clarifying information reported in a Free Lance-Star article. In his lengthy December 10th post, Werle gave numerous rebuttals to points from the article about the conflicts at the Rosedale Drive property in Dahlgren.
Five days later, DEQ issued an NOV for the Purkins Corner WWTP. In the NOV, DEQ cites the June 2017 DMR report that was due on July 10, 2017 but wasn't received until August 9th. The NOV also cited the August 2017 DMR that reported Dissolved Oxygen values at 3.2 mg/L when the minimum is 5.0 mg/L.
On December 18th, DEQ sent an internal email that referenced all five WWTPs and how they were out of compliance as of the end of November. As the email states, the highlighted amounts are the ones out of compliance.
The December 19th meeting of the Board of Directors saw an update by Eric Gregory about the finances of the Service Authority.
Just before Christmas, on December 23rd, Chris Werle gave a more positive update on Facebook where he recognized the service of former Service Authority Chris Cox. Cox, a native of King George, had worked for the Service Authority for nearly ten years before retiring due to a disability. Cox was the winner of the inaugural Making A Difference Award for the Service Authority because of his contributions to the community.
In another internal DEQ email on December 28th, the majority of the content was related to ensuring the Hopyard WWTP had a qualified operator on duty when the plant discharged. However, at the end of the email, a comment was made that "Sounds to me like NRO [Northern Regional Office] is preparing to put the screws to King George again, just when we’ve got things to a somewhat cooperative level." This appears to confirm my theory that DEQ has largely been more than willing to bend over backwards to bring the Service Authority into compliance.
Another DEQ employee responds back with "It does not help their case that they’ve had consistent compliance concerns dating back to the 90s." The same employee continued by saying that DEQ was "...concerned with addressing the culture (of non-compliance) as well as the most current compliance issues and I understand their position." This gives the impression that even though DEQ is more than willing to help the Service Authority come into compliance, there may be some enforcement actions required to ensure it happens.
Thanks for the timeline clarification. You are all doing a great job presenting the facts.
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